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Chilli Crab

Name: Chilli Crab
Cuisine: Singaporean
Ingredients: 1.5 kg mud crab; 4 tbsp chili sauce; 3 tbsp tomato ketchup; 3 cloves garlic; 1 inch piece ginger; 1 egg; 1 tbsp lime juice; 1 tbsp cornstarch; 1 cup water; 3 tbsp vegetable oil; 1 tsp sugar; to taste salt

Chilli Crab is a iconic Singaporean seafood dish featuring mud crabs cooked in a savory, tangy, and mildly spicy tomato-based chili sauce. It is celebrated for its bold flavors and communal style of eating, often enjoyed at seafood restaurants along Singapore's waterfronts.

12 ingredients

spicysweetsavorytangyumami

Culinary DNA Preview

Chinese70%

Malay30%

Ingredients

mud crab
1.5 kg
chili sauce
4 tbsp
tomato ketchup
3 tbsp
garlic
3 cloves
ginger
1 inch piece
egg
1
lime juice
1 tbsp
cornstarch
1 tbsp
water
1 cup
vegetable oil
3 tbsp
sugar
1 tsp
salt
to taste

Method

Steps not available

Origin Story

Created in the 1950s by Cher Yam Tian and her husband Lim Choon Ngee at a seaside stall in Singapore, chilli crab quickly became a beloved local specialty blending Chinese cooking techniques with Southeast Asian chili flavors.

Culinary DNA

Ingredient ancestry breakdown

Chinese70%

ingredients+techniques

Malay30%

ingredient_origin

Techniques

sautéing simmering thickening egg drop

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Southeast Asiacuisines →Foodways connections →